Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Response to Jason Nelson

Mr. Nelson,

This was going to be too long of a response to put in a
comment box.First let me address your
deregulation bill.You asked how many
teachers supported this bill.I would
venture to guess you got minimal to no support for this bill from
teachers.Now, given that teachers are
always vocal about unfunded mandates, this should give you pause.I know that when I assess my students after I
teach a lesson and more than half of them don’t pass, there is a problem.If that many are struggling, then the first
place I look is to my teaching.What did
I do that I shouldn’t have or what didn’t I do that I needed to.Perhaps you might consider this in the same
way.We should want deregulation, but we
don’t support your bill.Why not?

I can give you a couple of answers.First of all, teachers have been bashed by so much legislation lately
that some of them are just wanting you to leave us alone for a while until we
can work through the mess we have right now.However, that isn’t the real cause.The real problem is that not one – no, not a single one – of the
legislators we have asked (including you) have been able to tell us exactly
what you are deregulating.I first met
you last year after the Visions 2020 Conference when I asked you to
specifically list what you wanted deregulated.You could not answer.You said
you needed to do some research.I followed
up with an e-mail.You told me you were
looking into it.I followed up
again.You stopped responding.I give you credit for responding the first
time, as most of your colleagues don’t bother.However, until you can tell us what you are deregulating, you aren’t
going to get the support of the teachers.We’ve had too much experience with education legislation to buy a pig in
a poke.Have you thought about getting a
committee of educators together and actually asking them which regulations are
the problem?Better yet, have you looked
at all of the regulations to see which ones you haven’t funded?Maybe the problem isn’t in the mandate but in
the lack of funding.

You also asked if we should stop testing kids.Of course not.However, the
current regime of high stakes testing has not worked.Ever.Anywhere.It will never
work.You can (and apparently will)
spend millions of dollars on this system, and it isn’t going to work.Everybody says we need to break out of the
status quo.However, high stakes testing
has been around for over a decade.All
these new laws are just the status quo on steroids.Failing 3rd graders because they
didn’t pass one test, one day is ridiculous.Especially given the complete unreliability of the tests.Now you are implementing this retention law
at the same time our State Department has changed all of our standards.We have no material to teach common
core.There isn’t even curriculum
written for common core.Yet we (meaning
you and your colleagues) are going to retain these kids if they don’t pass
common core tests.Anyone knows that
with any new system there is a period of adjustment.We don’t get one with this combination.I’m trying to teach common core math with a
textbook that is a decade old.(One of
those things that wasn’t funded for the last few years was textbook purchases.)
Elementary schools aren’t scheduled to get new reading curriculum until 2017 –
three years after they are supposed to be passing common core tests.

There are better ways to assess kids.There are certainly better ways to evaluate schools and teachers than
using those tests.However, no one is
willing to work with actual teachers in developing these things.We are just told we are “trying to avoid
accountability” or “just being lazy” or “making excuses.”Could it possibly be that we have more experience
in this area and can work with you to make your ideas better?Could it possibly be that we might actually
agree on some things, but those things get lumped in with a bunch of junk so that
we can’t even support what we like?

I am not just criticizing here.I am
(again) trying to let you know that you have a resource that you have not
used.Instead of trying to fight us, why
don’t you work with us?My guess is that
neither of us would get everything we want, but whatever we came up with would
have to be better than what we have now.The A to F grading scale is useless.An A on one report card doesn’t mean the same thing as an A on
another.It is about as clear and
transparent as a mud pit.Tying teacher
evaluations to test scores is also useless.You won’t get rid of bad teachers that way.You will get rid of teachers who work in high
poverty areas.The only proven
correlation about test scores is that between scores and socio-economic
level.There are less expensive ways to
determine which schools have poor kids.Incidentally, if you really want to help those kids, read up on the
effects of poverty on education.Try
Ruby Payne’s book A Framework for Understanding Poverty.It might give you a better idea of what we
need to help these kids.

If you want better teachers, let’s work together to make that happen.You have an excellent opportunity to make a
stand on this.Support the National
Board Certification Program.Don’t just
fund it (although that is of course important).Use it.There are over 3,000
teachers in Oklahoma who are NBCTs.If
you want to mandate something, require those teachers who receive the stipend
to mentor other teachers.Ask them to work
on committees with you.Sit down with
them and find out what is really needed (besides funding).We can help you.Work with the State Department and the
Districts to find ways to use NBCTs.Use
the framework for National Boards to help you come up with a truly effective
evaluation process.For a start, you
might look at what is required of a teacher to receive their
certification.Also take a look at what
is required for renewal.I can tell you
that those things are a better reflection of my teaching than any test score.

Aside from the NBCT program, look at the professional development requirements
for teachers.Are there any?I honestly don’t know. When I started, we were required to have 15
hours a year.I have so many more than
that each year I haven’t worried about it.However, someone told me that requirement was done away with.If that is so, why?We need quality professional development.Why don’t we work on making that a
priority?Not only for our teachers to
participate in but for our state to provide.I have been to some amazing workshops over the years, but most of them
were out of state.Why is that?

Let’s take a look at the training our universities are providing in teacher
education programs.Is it
sufficient?Does it need to be
adjusted?Can we work on funding an
internship program for new teachers?Have them partner teach with a highly qualified teacher for a year
before being thrown in to their own classroom?

Once again, I’ll say we are willing to work with you.We are willing to be held accountable.We are willing to do what we need to that is
best for the kids.However, as long as
legislation is being passed that is not in the best interest of our students,
you will not get our support.As long as you are sponsoring ALEC legislation (like the special education scholarship bill), you are not going to get our support.

If you
want to get some first hand experience, come visit.Come for a day, come for a week, come for an
hour.Teach the class, read to the
class, talk to the kids, talk to the teachers.Prepare a lesson plan, go over our standards.Whatever you want, we will support you.You are welcome here.You are wanted here.

About Me

A target for all garage-filling, paper-creating, linen-sewing, sock stealing gnomes. I aspire to find a way to make said gnomes work for me instead of against me. In my fantasy world, I spend my time on the beach, lazing around with a good book. In real life, I am a very busy 2nd grade teacher. All opinions are my own.